


Operation Valentine

by Maaikek



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Once Upon a Time (TV) References, Sick Character, Storybrooke (Once Upon a Time), Swanfire - Freeform, Swanfire Family - Freeform, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 20:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maaikek/pseuds/Maaikek
Summary: Since Emma wasn't one for surprises, she had made sure to be the one planning this year's Valentine's Day. And she had planned it, alright. It would be perfect. There was only one tiny problem.
Relationships: Baelfire | Neal Cassidy/Emma Swan
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

They had it all planned. They would drop off Henry at Regina's in the morning and then their romantic day could begin. A visit to the local fun fair for old time's sake, a fancy dinner at Tony's Restaurant, topped off by an overnight stay at the five-star Lakeview Hotel. That was the whole idea.

Since Emma wasn't one for surprises, she had made sure to be the one planning this year's Valentine's Day. It was their first proper one as a couple, not counting the rushed and improvised one when they were seventeen years old. Needless to say, according to Emma, it had to be perfect. And it could be perfect.

There was only one tiny problem.

When Emma opened her eyes, her head felt about to explode. She let out a deep breath and immediately the coughing started. An unstoppable coughing fit that burned her throat and went all the way down to her lungs.

'Em, you alright?' she heard in between the moments while she was gasping for air. Neal lifted himself up from the bed and cast a worried glance.

'I'm fine…' she said in between fits. 'Just a little congested is all.'

It apparently didn't do much to ease Neal's mind, because he got up and came back a few minutes later with a glass of water. 'Here, drink up. It might help.'

Grateful she set herself up straighter against the headboard, took the glass from him, and took a few sips, leading to yet another coughing fit. Once that one subdued, she did a body scan, realizing only then that not only her head, throat, and lungs, but her whole physique just ached. It felt like all of her muscles in her body had decided to team up against her, sending the most annoying pain signals through her nerves. Not today of all days…

Neal laid the palm of his hand against her forehead and let out a disapproving hum. 'Emma, you're burning up.'

So that was another symptom she was noticing. Her temperature did feel off. She felt incredibly hot, but she couldn't make her body stop shivering. 'I'm sure it's nothing,' she tried to dismiss it as something meaningless. 'I'll just go and take a hot shower, let the steam clear my head, and I'll be good as new.' She turned to face him and worked up a smile. 'Happy Valentine's Day.'

'Happy Valentine's Day Em,' Neal replied and gave her a gentle peck on the lips.

Right, she had to get herself up and out of the bed. Something that would normally be as easy as pie now sounded like the greatest challenge in human history. She put down the glass on the nightstand and used the piece of furniture as a means to help her sit up fully straight. She then threw her legs over the side of the bed and placed her feet on the cold, wooden floor. The sensation sent more shivers down her spine. Her head lowered, she waited a few seconds to work up enough strength to actually make it up and stand up straight. She felt Neal's worrying eyes piercing her back and used her two hands to push herself up from the bed. No way she was giving up so quickly.

Her body on the other hand decided differently. As soon as she stood up straight, her head started to spin and she had to steady herself holding on to the nightstand or she would fall over. _I can do this, I can do this,_ she repeated in her head, and with that mantra replaying she walked over to the bathroom.

Once there, the spinning of her head caused a wave of nausea to float through her system and she bent over the toilet where she let it all out. Riding out the wave, she felt Neal crouching down behind her.

He used the palm of his hand to draw soothing circles on her back and pulled back her long hair when another wave followed.

Tears pricked behind her eyes, an aggravating occurrence that always happened when she threw up. Once she felt that nothing more would follow, she flushed the toilet and leaned back, completely exhausted. She put her head on Neal's shoulder and felt his arms wrap protectively around her. Her breathing was labored, caused by a combination of the intensity of the nauseousness and her congested lungs. How she hated this feeling.

While they sat like that, Neal whispered soothing words into her ear until she calmed down and her breathing was down to a more normal pace. 'Instead of taking a shower, why don't you take a bath? I'll help you,' he suggested.

She simply nodded into his chest, not entirely certain if she could stand up for so long. However, she really wanted to benefit from the hot steam that the warm water would create, so taking a bath was therefore the better alternative to taking a shower.

When they had moved into the large detached house on Dunford Road, most of the rooms were already furnished, including the bathroom which had a shower as well as a bathtub. Emma and Neal both liked the rustic and warm style of the interior of the house and decided to keep most of it. It reminded Emma a bit of her mother's loft apartment, which made her immediately feel connected to it.

A knock on the bathroom door made the two of them look up.

' _You guys okay in there?'_ the sound of a still sleepy Henry broke through the door.

'Yeah buddy, your mom isn't feeling so well this morning, but she'll be fine. Why don't you go and make yourself some breakfast and play some video games? We'll be down in a bit,' Neal answered.

' _Okay. Sure you guys don't need anything?'_

Emma smiled at the thoughtfulness of her son. He's always been like that and she loved him for it. 'Thanks, kid, we're all good here.' Her voice sounded low and raspy. Henry thumping down the stairs left a pounding feeling inside her head and she closed her eyes.

'Come on you,' Neal whispered. 'Let's get you up, it's too cold here for you on the floor.' He supported her aching body and walked her back to their bedroom where he sat her down on the bed. 'I'll go and fill up the tub, you just wait here, okay?' He placed a soft kiss on her temple and left the room.

She did hate this. So much. The one day in the year that they could've spent not having to worry about anything, just being together and celebrating their love for each other like any other normal couple… No curses, no monsters, no evil creatures in sight. But yet here she was, sick as a dog. Their whole day ruined.

She forced herself to keep sitting up straight. Laying down meant giving in to the illness and that was something she absolutely couldn't afford. She took another few sips from the glass with water and this time she did notice its soothing properties to ease the pain in her throat. She sighed and closed her eyes for only a few seconds… Just a few seconds.

'Em?'

She didn't know how long she'd been asleep, but Neal had come back and now sat beside her on the bed. Her head was tilted in a highly uncomfortable position and it hurt her neck. Slowly she pulled herself back up again. 'Bath's ready?' she mumbled.

'Yes, it is Your Royal Highness,' Neal answered teasingly. 'Come on.'

Not only did he help her make her way back to the bathroom, he had also placed a chair there where she could sit down.

She didn't get as dizzy this time, so this was all surely unneeded. 'Oh come on Neal, that's not necessary, I can perfectly get undressed standing up…' She was rudely interrupted by another coughing fit.

'Yeah right, you just sit down on the damned chair,' Neal laughed.

She couldn't help but let out a chuckle, annoyed that she herself had proven his point, but seeing the humor of what her stubborn behavior must have looked like to him. Reluctantly she sat herself down on the chair.

Even though her nose was blocked and her head fully congested, the strong scent of peppermint oil entered through her nostrils. She remembered the scented bath foam she had bought for Henry when he was coming down with a common cold, only a few months ago. Neal had clearly remembered and must have put it in the bath for her.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered as Neal is helping her to take off her top and PJ-leggings. She didn't mean for it to come out in a whimper, but it did.

With one of the legs of her legging in his hand, he stopped in his tracks and looked at her surprised. 'What for?'

'For completely ruining our Valentine's Day.' She couldn't longer deny the fact that this wasn't a simple little cold she could ignore. She had come down with a serious case of the flu and it wouldn't be better any time soon.

Neal slowly brushed a thumb over her cheek. 'That's not something you should worry about now. We need to focus on getting you better. Besides, we can always create our own Valentine's Day. It doesn't necessarily have to be on 14th February.'

'But we made all of these plans. I'll have to cancel our reservation at Tony's and our booking at the Lakeview...'

He let out a loud laugh. 'Listen, for once we're going to make use of your Royal status in this town. I'm pretty sure that they're more than happy to rebook us, since you're the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and all that.

'Don't forget I'm also the Savior around here,' Emma chimed in, her voice still sounding like that of a seal on dry land.

'Exactly. All the more reason for them to rebook us whenever we choose. I'll call them later.'

When she looked into his playful brown eyes, she knew she'd made the right decision. Allowing him back into her life was one of the best things that had happened to her over the past few years. That a lot had changed in her life was an understatement, but being with him had led to so much joy and fulfillment that her heart swelled only thinking about it.

They finished getting her undressed and Neal helped her into the bathtub.

In all honesty, Emma felt like she had run a marathon, exhaustion taking over her body. It's crazy to think that she'd only been a little bit tired the night before, but no other symptoms had presented to her until this morning. She laid her head against the side of the tub and closed her eyes.

'Are you comfortable?' Neal asked and she managed to bring out a small 'hmm', feeling too tired to utter another word.

The warm water felt really good on her sore muscles and the scented steam coming from the bath relieved her congested head a little.

Neal still sat by her side when she opened her eyes and a smile of relief brightened her face. She took his hand, suddenly eager for his touch. Being sick always took her back to when she was little and no one was there to really care for her. Being sick in foster care meant taking care of yourself. No one had the time or loved you enough to help you when you were feeling under the weather. So Emma had learned from a very young age to fend for herself. Now having someone looking after her was a whole new experience and she still couldn't entirely believe that this is what was happening.

Neal gently squeezed her hand and pressed another kiss on her forehead. Then, he picked up the bottle of shampoo and held it out in front of her.

She nodded, understanding what he asked her, and he helped her wetting and shampooing her hair, massaging her scalp carefully in the process.

She leaned in his touch and enjoyed the sensation. However uncomfortable the flu made her feel, his presence made it all far more bearable. It almost disappointed her when he pulled back his hand and she let her head rest again against the back of the tub.

He let his hand lower from her shoulder to her arm before he pulled away completely. 'I'll just go to check on Henry and be right back.'

* * *

'Hey buddy,' he announced himself as he joined his son on the couch.

Henry was wearing his headphones and played this video game Neal could never remember the name of. As soon as the boy noticed his dad, he took off the headphones. 'How's mom, will she be okay?'

Neal ruffled his son's hair and put his arm around his shoulder. 'She's just coming down with the cold or the flu, she'll be fine in no-time. She's taking a bath now. I actually used the bath foam she gave you when you were feeling poorly.'

'To make it easier for her to breathe?' Henry asked.

Neal nodded.

'That really helped me too.' The boy sounded wise for his age.

'Did you already help yourself to some breakfast?' Neal looked at the empty plate in front of Henry and knew what the answer would be.

'Yeah, just had some pop tarts and a glass of orange juice.' The boy put down the controller of the video game and shot his dad a hopeful look. 'Now mom's not feeling well, does that mean that you guys stay here today?'

Neal wondered where this question was leading to. 'I guess so… but Henry, you can still go to Regina. I'm sure she's eager to see you this weekend.'

'I know, and I'm too… but it's just, when mom is sick, I prefer to stay with you guys. If that's okay with you?' he added uncertainly.

Neal bowed his head and wiped a hand over his face. Regina wouldn't be happy with this development, but he understood his son's worry for his other mom. And he was pretty sure that Emma would be happy to have him with her this weekend as well. It would make for a nice distraction now their Valentine's Day plans were canceled.

Henry was staring wide-eyed at him, waiting for an answer.

'Right. Let's make a deal.' He realized all too late that that comment was a little bit too close to home and he smiled when he noticed the grin on Henry's face. 'Yes, let's make a deal, _dearie_ ,' he added for good measure. 'You can stay here with us, but you'll have to share the caretaking responsibilities with me. We're both going to make sure that your mom is in the best of hands and will want for nothing.'

Henry nodded enthusiastically. 'Deal!'

'Great. Well, first things first. I'll ring up Regina to explain the situation to her. Then I'll go help Emma and when I come back, you and I will make her breakfast.'

'Operation Valentine!' Henry called out.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Happy Valentine's and Galentine's Day everyone! This one's for you._

* * *

Once Neal had called a not-too-happy Regina to let her know that Henry wouldn't be spending the weekend at hers, he returned to the bathroom.

Emma had already rinsed her hair and was trying to get up and reach for the towel on the nearby radiator.

By the strenuous look on her face he could tell she was struggling. 'Here, let me help,' he offered, quickly taking the towel before she could grab it and he helped her stand up in the tub. When he noticed that she wanted to open her mouth to object, he quickly planted a kiss on her lips. He pulled back a little, but his face was still mere inches from hers.

'You're going to catch whatever I have,' Emma let out in a whisper. 'I'm sure it's contagious.' She didn't however pull back from him.

'If that's the case, you can be the one taking care of me when I'm sick,' he replied in an even soft voice. Then he wrapped the towel around her so she wouldn't get cold, but he felt her shiver underneath his touch anyway. The low-grade fever she was suffering did a number on her. He made a mental note to get the thermometer later to get a proper reading. Surely Emma would try to convince him it wasn't all that bad, but he'd rather judge it for himself.

The warm bath had done Emma a world of good, but she had to admit she still felt woozy and the headache hadn't completely subdued. Grateful for Neal's support she leaned in against him. 'Thank you.' Those two tiny words encompassed everything and nowhere near enough at the same time.

Neal's heart jumped and he placed a kiss on top of her head. 'Come on babe, let's get you dry and dressed.' On the way back to the bathroom, he had grabbed a tank top, hoodie, and sweatpants for Emma to wear and helped her to put those on.

The blonde was exhausted by the end of the whole process. She sat on the chair Neal had brought in earlier and all she could think of was her beautiful, comfortable mattress calling her. At the same time, she felt her belly rumbling.

It was like Neal had read her mind. 'Why don't you go back to bed and I'll bring you up some breakfast in a minute.' He knew that nothing could come between Emma and food, not even the flu.

How tempting the idea of breakfast in bed, she wanted to be where the most distraction was and that was downstairs with her two men. She shook her head. 'You can make me breakfast, but I'm joining you guys downstairs. The thought of being in bed all day while you two are having fun is too depressing.'

'Fair point,' Neal had to give her. 'Come on then.'

* * *

'Mom!' Henry called as he looked up from his game. 'Are you feeling any better?'

'Well,' Emma began when she plopped on the couch opposite from him, 'I've had better days, but the bath really helped with my sore muscles.' A coughing fit started, literally taking her breath away.

Henry cast a worried look at Neal to which his father smiled reassuringly in return. 'Why don't you make your mom a warm tea with honey? We've got some in the cupboard. I'll be right with you to make some breakfast.' Then he turned his attention back to Emma, sat down next to her, and softly hit her back to help her through the fit.

Henry hurried over with a glass of water and a box of tissues, which Neal both took from him.

'Thanks buddy,' he replied since Emma was still out of breath.m and unable to speak.

'This sucks,' Emma scoffed when the fit was over. She let her shoulders hang and took the blanket from the cupboard next to the TV to put over her legs.

Henry was still looking at her with a slight sense of dread in his eyes.

His mother noticed the worried look on his face and tried to show him a reassuring smile. 'It's nothing to worry about, I just have to rest it off. We've been through much worse, right?'

Henry nodded but didn't look so sure. The boy had been through hell and back only recently in Neverland, but seeing his mother like this somehow felt worse.

'Come on buddy, let's make your mom some breakfast.' Neal suggested. He went with his hand through Emma's long locks before he got up from the couch and brought her a pillow which she put gratefully in her sore back.

Henry brought her her tea and she sat up straight to take a sip. The hot beverage felt glorious to the prickly feeling in the back of her throat. Henry had not only added a drop of honey but also a slice of lemon, probably advised by Neal. Her hands were warmed by the warmth of the mug and she closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she reopened them, she watched Neal and Henry doing their best to make her breakfast in the kitchen. The chaos and slight frustration that were visible (and audible) made her giggle. No, the three of them wouldn't ever be top-chefs and it was for a reason that they went for dinner to her parents' and Granny's so often. Emma sighed. She felt really tired but loved watching her two men pottering around in the kitchen.

'I need another egg over here Henry,' Neal ordered. 'Oh shit, now I've got egg-shells in it. Can you pass me the spoon, I'll try to get them out.'

Henry looked at the bowl with a doubtful expression on his face. 'I don't think it needs that much flower…'

'Just stir, I'm sure it will mix well.'

Usually, Emma would've come in between, telling them to drop everything and let her do it. Not that she was any better at it, but it then became more... a matter of principle. However, this time the blonde's eyes became heavier and heavier and she couldn't even bring herself to get up from the couch.

Henry did as his father had asked him and used a whisk to blend all the ingredients together inside the bowl. 'Look, it's way too thick, I almost can't get through with this thing. Told you you shouldn't use this much flour,' the boy complained.

'I'm sure these were the correct measurements according to your grandma's recipe,' Neal murmured.

Right when the pancake batter started flying through the kitchen, Emma couldn't keep her eyes open and fell asleep, a smile still plastered on her face.

The smell of freshly baked pancakes with bacon woke her right up again, the fact that she had slightly regained her sense of smell a victory in itself.

Neal helped her sitting back up and handed her over a plate and a set of cutlery. 'Maple sirup?' he asked and she nodded enthusiastically.

'You sure you're not going to poison me with this?' she joked and Henry firmly shook his head.

'I tried one and they're delicious!'

'Right then, let's give it a go.' She took a single bite and let it go around in her mouth. While her sense of smell had in some way returned, her sense of taste certainly hadn't and the disappointment when she took a bit was real. 'Crap…' she uttered with her mouth still full. 'Can't taste a thing.'

Neal gave her a sympathetic glance while he took a seat next to her.

Henry sat down across from them. A big stack of pancakes graced his plate and while he wasn't yet drooling, it looked close.

Neal lifted a brow. 'I thought you already had breakfast?' he questioned, a cheeky smile giving away that he didn't mind.

The boy shrugged and replied with his mouth full of pancake something that was supposed to say something like 'still hungry.'

One thing's for certain. Their son had inherited his mom's insatiable appetite.

With an obvious pout, Emma put down her now empty plate and sank down into the couch, her head resting on the pillow. 'Thanks, guys,' she said hoarsely, feeling slightly guilty for her negative attitude earlier. Being sick just wasn't fun at all.

Neal lifted her feet and rested them on his lap. 'How're you feeling?'

'Like I was hit by a bulldozer while my lungs and brains are on fire, but besides that, I'm totally fine.' She realized she was sounding dramatic, but again… Being sick just sucked.

'Sounds like you're feeling peachy,' Neal laughed and he started to massage her feet. He and Henry exchanged an amused glance before his son quietly picked up the empty plates to take to the kitchen.

Emma didn't let that comment slide and hit his leg with her right foot. 'Shut up.' Admittedly it was hard to keep the straight face and not much later a grin formed.

Immediately the feet massage stopped. 'I thought you liked feet rubs, but if this is how you want to play it, let's have it.' Neal's grin was possibly even bigger than Emma's.

The pout Emma had shown earlier when she couldn't properly taste her breakfast, got completely overthrown by the one she showed him now. 'No, please Neal, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you…' She let her lip tremble a bit for effect.

'Oh poor you,' Neal laughed and he continued the pamper treatment.

Emma closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation, almost forgetting how everything else in her body hurt like hell.

'Mom?'

'Hmm?' she opened her eyes to see why Henry had been calling her.

There he was, standing next to her with a thermometer in his hand. 'We need to take your temperature.'

Their son took his job as caregiver highly serious, Emma thought and she sent him a smile. To be honest, she probably would've argued with Neal when he had come up to her with the thermometer, but she didn't have the heart to do so with Henry. Reluctantly she sat up straight, took the thermometer from her son, and put the tip underneath her tongue.

'Great thinking buddy,' Neal agreed.

Henry beamed with the compliment and waited patiently for the beeping signal to sound, letting them know it was ready.

Emma watched how her son was standing there, with his arms crossed in front of his body, all business. She raised her hand and brushed his cheek. She had never been good with words but had recently become more comfortable showing affection to the ones she loved.

As soon as the thermometer indicated it was done, she took it from her mouth. Although Henry was trying to take it from her, she brought it closer to get a proper reading. '101.2,' she read out loud. 'See, it's just a low-grade fever.'

'Yes,' Neal replied, 'but still. It's _a fever_ , so you're not going anywhere today and you'll let us take care of you.'

'What Dad said,' Henry chimed in when he took the thermometer from his mom.

Neal smiled at him and got up.

'Hey, where do you think you're going?' Emma asked.

The answer followed soon enough when he came back with a cold compress. He kneeled down next to her and put it gently on her forehead.

She looked at him with a soft smile and took his hand to give it a gentle squeeze. 'You really shouldn't be so close to me right now,' she said without too much confidence. All she wanted was for him to be close to her. She just didn't want him to catch whatever she had.

'Get some rest babe,' Neal retorted softly. 'We'll be here when you wake up.' He brushed the top of her hand with his thumb.

'I don't think I can sleep right now.'

'Shall I read you a story?' Henry suggested. 'That always works for me.'

Emma smiled. 'Sure kid, why not.' She knew she'd make Henry's day allowing him to help her like that, so she let him.

Neal asked her to sit up for a second while he sat down at the same end of the couch. He put the pillow on his lap and invited Emma to lay down her head atop of it. She rested her left ear on the pillow and he started to make circling movements on her temple with his thumb. The fingers of his other hand were intertwined with hers in front of her body.

Henry came down seconds later with his storybook and took a seat in front of the couch. He positioned himself so that he could show Emma and Neal the pictures in the book while he was reading.

Emma sighed. Wouldn't it be for the fact that she had the flu, this moment could've been one of the best ones of her life.

Henry scraped his throat and started to read. '...They didn't need words to express what they felt in their hearts, for it was here, in the shadow of the Troll Bridge, that their love was born, where they knew, no matter how they were separated, they would always find each other.'


	3. Chapter 3

The world around her spun and she immediately closed her eyes again. Anything to avoid that nauseous-making feeling. A groan escaped from her mouth.

'Dad, she opened her eyes, she's awake! Mom, mom, how're you feeling?'

She could hear Henry practically yelling in her ear, all excited. Her head pounded and his well-intentioned cries didn't make it any better. She pried open her eyes halfway and caught her son pulling the blanket a little higher over her shoulders. 'Thanks, kid,' she said, giving his hand a soft squeeze. 'Feeling a little better, but my head still hurts.' It wasn't far from the truth, but in reality, she felt worse than she let on.

'I've got something for that! I went to the drug store and got you some medicine.' He took a carton box from the coffee table. 'Ty-le-nol,' he read from the package. 'Dad said that's what I should get you.'

Her body was ready for some pain relief and she took the pill and the glass of water from Henry in an instant. 'What time is it?' She wanted to know.

'Just after three. You slept for hours.'

'What?' She checked her phone and saw that Henry was right. Five past three. 'But how…?'

'Look who's up.' Neal came in from the other room and held up his phone. 'Rearranged our reservations for next weekend,' he explained. 'You better make sure you're fully up and running by then.'

She showed him a grateful smile. 'I'm counting on it. Or you two have to deal with a very annoying mother and girlfriend for much longer.'

'Please no!' Neal exclaimed dramatically with a shocked expression on his face. 'Can't deal with that, what about you Henry?'

Henry burst out in laughter and shakes his head. 'Nope.'

Within a split second, Emma took the pillow from underneath her head and aimed it at her two boys. 'Hey!' Her head spun, but she decided to ignore it.

Neal caught the pillow and lowered himself to the ground. 'Quick Henry, find cover. We're under attack. The Savior is turning into the Anti-Savior and she's coming for us.'

'Neal Cassidy, you're lucky my head's about to explode, otherwise, you could've been proven right,' Emma laughed.

Neal playfully pushed an in hysterics Henry behind the leaning chair opposite the couch. 'Don't listen to her Henry, she's trying to make you choose her side, but believe me, she's caught by the flu-curse and that's the worst curse in all the realms! She's preparing her next move and we need to be careful.'

'Distract her, I'm going to head to the kitchen to get us some fighting supplies,' Henry giggled and he ninja-moved himself out from behind the chair.

'There's still some pancake batter left in the fridge, we can make dough bombs.'

'Hey!' Emma intervened and she held up a warning finger. 'Don't you dare Henry Mills!' Then to Neal,' I'll remember this, you started...' another coughing fit overwhelmed her mid-sentence and she closed her eyes as the air was brutally taken from her. So much for family banter, she thought to herself.

Neal rushed to her side and drew soothing circles on her back. 'You're okay, you're gonna be fine.'

Once it felt like she had given all she got she leaned back against Neal, her head buried in his chest. Immediately she felt his arms wrapping around her. She always became very clingy when she wasn't feeling well and needed to feel his presence. 'This is such a shit-show,' she whispered so that Henry couldn't hear. When she realized he had gone upstairs, she allowed herself to speak louder. 'I hate this.'

'I know,' he replied.

'I'm sorry I've ruined our Valentine's Day.'

'Hey.' Neal lifted her chin with his finger and forced her to look at him. 'Now you're doing it again. Don't you dare to apologize. None of this is your fault, do you hear me. None of it.'

When growing up, she was told one too many times that when something went wrong, it was her own fault. Even the times when it wasn't. When you hear that often enough as a kid, it kind of seeps into your DNA and that's what happened with Emma. A ping of guilt would always be on her mind in situations like these. 'I'm not used to people taking care of me when I'm sick. It's weird coming from places where being sick was valued the same as being weak. You'd simply try to hide your symptoms as much as possible or they would bully you for it. Or worse…' It was the first time she opened up about this to Neal. She had told him things about her childhood, but never in great detail. In fact, she hadn't told anyone about the abuse she'd experienced growing up in foster care. Ever. She looked at him with fearful eyes.

'What did they do to you Em?' His voice was low and he threw her a piercing glance.

'One time…' she paused to try to order her thoughts and to work up the courage to continue. She buried her head in Neal's chest once more. 'One time, when I was about eight years old, I was living in this disgusting group home in Minnesota with about thirty other kids. One morning I woke up with a super high fever and intense pain in my lungs, much worse than how I'm feeling today,' she quickly clarified. 'I tried to hide it of course, but I couldn't longer contain my coughing and one of the other kids snitched and told one of the caretakers about it. So they decided to move me to this cold and moldy shed in the garden. They said it was so that I wouldn't cause an epidemic in the group home. That's literally what they said.' She shook her head, still reeling with the memory. 'It was the middle of January, freezing temperatures of about 10 degrees during the day, much lower at night. They had only given me a filthy mattress to sleep on and a thin blanket to lie under. There was no heating in the shed.'

Neal squeezed her hand encouragingly.

She took a deep intake of breath. 'At some point I lost consciousness, I don't know how long I had been in the shed by then. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital. Doctors said I suffered from severe pneumonia. They kept me in a coma for a few days. It was touch and go.'

'Em…' Neal clearly didn't know exactly what to say.

Emma looked up and saw a combination of pain and anger reflected in his eyes. She tried to compose herself. 'It's fine. I mean, it happened so long ago and I made a full recovery…' The tendency to downplay any serious matter involving herself was another one of Emma's well-developed character traits.

'It's not fine! You were just a little girl. They neglected you, Emma, while they should've cared for you.' His voice dripped with fury. 'What happened to the people who owned the group home? Please tell me they were arrested for neglect or child abuse or something like that?'

Emma shook her head. 'They lied when they were questioned about the situation at home. They fully denied my statement that I'd been locked up in the shed for days. They told the police officers that I was a girl with a vivid imagination and that they did all they could to take care of me while I was sick. The pneumonia was just, 'bad luck.' They never went to jail and continued the group home for I don't know how many years.'

'Shit Emma. They didn't send you back to live with them, did they?'

She shrugged and a tear escaped her eye. 'Nope. Apparently, because I had told the hospital staff, and later the police, such gruesome lies about them, they didn't want to have me anymore. So the authorities moved me. Again.'

He wiped away the tear that ran down her cheek. 'I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that. I really am. I promise you nothing like that will happen to you ever again. You've people around you who love you now. Your parents, Henry, me. We'll never let anyone hurt you if we can help it.'

'I'm over it, really. I've moved on,' she tried in a weak attempt.

'Okay, that's great,' he replied, clearly not believing her. 'I just wanted to make sure that you know that you're allowed to be sick in this household. That no one here thinks any less of you for showing your vulnerable side and that you can always count on us.' He raised his finger like he had a very important announcement to make. 'And the final, most crucial thing you need to know is that I love you. I love you so very much Emma Swan.' He kissed the top of her head.

'I love you too,' she muttered while she buried herself deeper into his body. A strange combination of relief, love, and exhaustion washed over her. It didn't take long for her to fall into a big slumber.

* * *

Random sounds coming from the TV were the first things she heard when she woke up again. The first thing she felt was the rise and fall of Neal's chest, calming her to no end. 'How long have I been asleep?' she asked, too tired to look up.

'Not too long, about half an hour,' he replied while he brushed her long hair with his fingers. 'How're you feeling?'

'Much better actually.' This time she wasn't lying. She did a quick body scan to see what the exact situation was. Miraculously her headache had disappeared. The other body aches and the chills that came with a low-grade fever were both still there, but she felt much more herself. Even her chest felt less tight than before.

'See, it's the tyle… the pill-thing I gave you,' she suddenly heard coming from the other side of Neal.

'Hey kid, what are you watching?' She sat up straight so that she could look at both her men. Henry sat against his dad's chest, just like how she was sitting on his other side and she loved the sight of it.

'We're watching Harry Potter, the first one. We actually just started watching. Did you know that Dad has never seen it?'

She raised a brow. 'Really now, Cassidy? Cause I remember we talked about the books when we were younger.'

'The books, oh yes, I loved the books. But film adaptations are by definition bad, right? So I never bothered watching them.'

She smirked back at him teasingly. I guess we disagree on that point then. Because I love the Harry Potter films.' She winked at Henry.

The boy chimed in with: 'Me too! The films are much better.'

'We'll see about that,' Neal laughed as he refocused on the TV. He pulled Emma closer and absentmindedly rubbed her arm.

The three of them continued watching the film. Just when the scene started when the kids entered the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4, Henry jumped up. 'Wait, I've something for you!' He paused the DVD and rushed to the kitchen.

Emma and Neal looked at each other, both very much oblivious to what their son referred to. They watched him opening a cabinet and taking out a box wrapped in red wrapping paper before storming back to the living room.

'Here you go, this is for both of you.' He smiled, clearly very pleased with himself. 'It's because you guys didn't get to spend Valentine's Day like you had planned.'

Emma took the box from him and swirled it around, trying to guess what was inside. Not only was it wrapped in beautiful shiny paper, there was also a pink ribbon placed on top with a heart-shaped sticker holding it to the wrapping. In short, it was sappy and it screamed Valentine's Day.

The contents of the box on the other hand were more to Emma's liking. 'Chocolate!' she cried out in delight.

Heart-shaped chocolates, in three different flavors, graced the inside of the carton box.

Neal immediately stuck his hand in and took one out, teasingly placing it in front of his own mouth before moving it to hers and she took a bite.

'Thanks, Henry, this is so sweet of you,' Emma told him with her mouth full. She held out the box to offer him a piece of chocolate as well.

Her son took one and directed his gaze to Neal. 'I got it when I went to the store to get the medicine. I paid it with my own pocket money,' he clarified.

'It's perfect Henry, thank you so much, buddy,' he smiled at his son.

A big grin formed on the boy's face and he took his place next to his dad just when Emma nestled herself back in the crook of Neal's arm.

'Everyone ready?' Henry asked and when they all agreed, he pressed the play button on the remote.

* * *

Had this been the Valentine's Day Emma had planned? No, it hadn't. Far from it really. But it had meant a day with two of the people in her life she loved most, wasn't that what Valentine's Day was all about? And she still had a romantic getaway with Neal to look forward to. That in itself made today more than worth it.

She put her ear on Neal's chest and was immediately soothed by the motion of his breathing. Today had felt like an enormous turning point in their relationship. She had opened up about something that she never had been able to before.

She thought back about what he had said. That no one would think less of her if she showed her vulnerable side. When something's burnt into your DNA due to constant priming, it's hard to change. But it had to. She had to change in order for her to move on in life. In order for her to be able to set an example for her son. She had made the first steps today. Baby steps, but still steps in the right direction.

She looked up and pressed her lips against Neal. He parted his lips and she deepened the kiss. She wanted him to feel how grateful she was and how much she loved him.

'Mom, Dad, stop it! Yuck, I'm still in the room you know?'

Neal and Emma looked at each other and read in each other's eyes that they were thinking the same thing.

Emma got to her feet and counted down from three. By one both she and Neal basically threw themselves onto Henry and smothered him with kisses and tickles.

_The end._


End file.
